His Offer

Those seated had their heads down and a clipboard in their laps, a tendril of Mana extending from their finger to the paper to write down what was required. Many had pained or thoughtful expressions on their faces, with a few scratching their heads.

Fate handed the form to the middle-aged man, receiving a grumble in return.

The paper was slotted into a black wicker basket, and a special distortion flared before the form disappeared. The middle-aged man then pulled a crystal ball out of his storage ring and set it on the counter.

The orb flashed before a line of blue light scanned Fate and Kravoss from head to toe. When it finished, the orb flashed green, then yellow, then yellow again, earning a frown from the middle-aged man.

"Are there any special traits about your body that a Journeyman such as yourself wouldn't have?" the man asked Fate.

"My Skill," Fate replied. "Why?"

"Because the orb here says yer dying," the man said bluntly.

"My Skill swaps my normal bodily functions around, so I'm 'dead' more than I'm 'alive,'" explained Fate.

The man scowled, and a flick of his finger sent Mana into the crystal ball. "Put some of yer Mana in this," he ordered.

Fate did as he was told, and the orb's yellow color morphed into a deep blue before flashing green.

The middle-aged man cut off his supply of Mana to the orb, and with a tap, it was scanning Fate gain.

This time it flashed green all three times.

"Well, yer healthy," the middle-aged man skeptically. "Or as healthy as you can be with that constitution of yours. Sound mind, too. And it says here you know yer way around a sword.

"Take a seat somewhere and fill this out, then bring it back to me," he said, handing Fate another slip of paper attached to a clipboard.

Fate took the clipboard and settled into a seat near the middle, a drop of Mana flowing to his finger as he started to fill out the form. Kravoss hopped into a chair next to him.

This type of paper, called Mana paper, was preferred by bureaucracy, as ink was messy, unreliable, and didn't last that long in the grand scheme of things.

Mana paper worked by using Imprints in the paper to color the page, changing the paper itself instead of impressing ink or graphite onto it.

This meant that any changes would last as long as the paper did, which could be hundreds or even thousands of years depending on the Grade of the paper.

The Royal Mage Academy used regular ink and graphite instead, as Mana paper was both expensive and difficult to alter should there be a mistake.

Changing something already written on Mana paper required four times the amount of Mana used to place that writing in the first place.

This was very tiring and why the silence of the room Fate sat in was periodically punctuated by a groan and a grimace from those around him.

The first thing he had to do was list his Skill and Kravoss' unlocked Blood Skills.

The more mundane things like their talents, height, and noble lineage were either jotted down by the man in the last room or deciphered by the crystal ball that had scanned him.

After that was an empty space, where he listed his Deviant Skill.

Next was his preferred weapon, which he put as "sword," and then which branch of Guard work he planned to work under.

The Guard had four branches, these being administration, public service, military, and city guardian. The second, public service, was what Familiar rearing fell under.

Fate chose "military." This choice wasn't absolute, but it was important. Any Guard could do any job for either of the four branches, and in some cases may have one of these jobs thrust upon them if that branch was short-handed.

This choice indicated his favored type of mission, the type of mission that would motivate him to succeed and push himself.

It also determined which area of training he'd be receiving. As a Guard, he'd have to dabble in the other three, but one of these four would be his focus.

Finally, this choice determined who his superiors were. In one's branch, the command structure was as one would expect, with the higher ranks holding rank over the others.

But when one did a mission for another branch, they answered to everyone of that branch that was one rank below them and higher, due to lack of experience in the field.

As a refresher, the ranks of the Empress' Guard were Private, Corporal, Sergeant, Lieutenant, Captain, then General.

A Sergeant could order a Lieutenant of another branch around, as Sergeant was one rank lower than Lieutenant. But a Sergeant couldn't order around a Captain, which was two ranks higher than Sergeant, though in all cases a Guard was expected to defer to the branch member before acting.

Only the Private rank couldn't order a Guard of another branch around.

Fate didn't know this, but the middle-aged man was an example of a Guard having to do a mission under a different branch.

He was under the city guardian branch, but the influx of Academy students and the erection of the temporary shelter for them meant the public service and administration branches were overwhelmed.

He hated resting on his laurels, but he knew better than to disobey an order. He could only seethe in silence as he did his duty.

Kravoss had no objections to Fate's choices. The two were like-minded in this area and many others, which was why Kravoss had become Fate's Familiar in the first place.

Fate finished the rest of the form and stood to turn it in, greeting Venden as he did so. The Time Mage was just now coming in after finishing up in the other room.

The middle-aged man took the clipboard from Fate's hands and scrutinized it, his brow raising the further he got.

Seemingly unable to hold it in anymore, he asked Fate a question.

"Are you sure you want the Grevenich family to train you? They have a reputation for their harsh methods. If you can manage to make it out the other side, you'll be a damn good Guard, but I've seen many hopeful youths break before that point."

"I'm certain," Fate nodded.

It wasn't the way he intended to do it, but he'd finally be able to take the Sergeant's brother up on his offer for sword training.